Air force evacuation plane flies to Wuhan
NEWDELHI: After a delay of almost a week, an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft departed for China on Wednesday to deliver 15 tonnes of medical assistance and to evacuate 120 people, including 30 foreign nationals, stranded in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, officials said.
Last week, India and China had a terse exchange over clearance for IAF’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft to fly to Wuhan, with New Delhi saying the permission was being deliberately held up. Beijing had dismissed the charge.
The special IAF flight carrying the medical assistance, including masks, gloves and other emergency medical equipment, took off for Wuhan on Wednesday, the external affairs ministry said.The plane landed in Wuhan on Wednesday evening, confirmed external affairs minister S Jaishankar .The flight was scheduled to reach Delhi airport from Wuhan around 4am on Thursday.
On their return, the fresh batch of evacuees is likely to remain in isolation for 14 days at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)-run quarantine facility at Chhawla on the outskirts of Delhi.
Earlier this month, two Air India aircraft evacuated 647 Indians from Wuhan.
“The medical supplies will help augment China’s efforts to control the outbreak of this infection, which has been declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation,” the ministry said.
The Indian flight -- the third so far -- will bring back Indians and nationals from some neighbouring countries that sought assistance in travelling to India in keeping with New Delhi’s “neighbourhood first” policy.
A Chinese official familiar with developments said the two sides had been in communication on India’s request to send an aircraft to bring back Indian nationals from Hubei province.
“The communication channels between respective competent departments are open and smooth... The Chinese side will provide necessary support and assistance for flying duty by the Indian aircraft,” the person said.